Eating, knowing and lust
‘Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, and “the eyes of both were opened and they knew they were naked …” (Gen 3.7) The Hebrew word “to know” can have sexual connotations … The knowledge that Adam and Eve acquired included the knowledge that humans are sexual beings, and our sexual nature and physical hungers are deeply intertwined. Eating and sexual intercourse can both be acts of profound human communion … But eating and intercourse can become grave violations of communion when they are acts of consumption, gluttony, domination, or lust.’
Elizabeth T. Groppe, Eating and Drinking (Christian Explorations of Daily Living), Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011, 49.
Image: ‘Adam and Eve’ by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto
